Heartbreak for brave Welsh as Boks leave it late
S. Africa 32 Wales 29
WALES are no strangers to heroic defeat at the hands of the southern hemisphere’s big three.
The 2012 home loss to Australia and a 31-30 reversal in South Africa in 2014 are two of the more heartbreaking setbacks the country’s rugby side has suffered in the professional era.
But in Pretoria yesterday — with a first victory on Springbok soil tantalisingly within their grasp — Wayne Pivac’s men hit a new low when it comes to on-field anguish.
‘The last thing I want to do is come into a press conference and be brave losers,’ said Wales’ warrior leader Dan Biggar after his team were beaten at the death once again.
Cruelly for Biggar and Wales, that is exactly what they were.
Frankly, they deserved more.
But in international rugby you don’t always get what you deserve and Damian Willemse’s last-gasp penalty was more evidence of that.
Ultimately, for all their resilience, Wales’ poor discipline in the final quarter was their undoing.
A trio of late yellow cards for Alun Wyn Jones, the outstanding Louis Rees-Zammit — who scored twice — and Rhys Carre allowed South Africa to snatch victory.
Biggar’s late deliberate knock-on allowed Willemse a shot at victory and he nailed the penalty as South Africa got out of jail.
Jacques Nienaber’s Springboks are not world champions for nothing. ‘When you go down to 12 men against the world champions, it is very difficult,’ Wales head coach Pivac said. ‘Four yellow cards is tough to take. Unfortunately, we didn’t get across the line.
‘It was a big step up from our last performance, there is no doubt about that, but I am really frustrated with the discipline. It was a big effort, but it was one that got away.’
Wales went to the wall in a truly remarkable Test match which won’t be forgotten in a hurry.
In the final 10 minutes — with South Africa’s trademark power game in full swing — they got on the wrong side of rookie Georgian referee Nika Amashukeli.
Jones and Rees-Zammit were sent to the sin bin for offside and not releasing respectively. Amashukeli, only 27, then awarded South Africa a penalty try and put Carre in the cooler for deliberately trying to sack the driving maul. Even then, when all looked lost, Wales somehow rose from the canvas once more.
Bloodied and battered and having taken punch after punch, the men in red drove replacement hooker Dewi Lake over for a try which tied the scores at 29-29. Biggar couldn’t convert.
The chance of victory went begging, but more pain was to come. With a draw on the cards, Biggar was penalised and Willemse made him pay.
Pivac and Biggar pledged to review the yellow card decisions, but neither took aim at Amashukeli.
‘It was a definite missed opportunity,’ Biggar said. ‘I thought the penalty at the end was a little bit harsh. The ball has just hit my hand as opposed to me slapping it down.
‘We’re incredibly proud of the effort we put in. We’ve got to look at ourselves first. We certainly gave some easy ins and probably some easy decisions with some of those penalties.’
It is hard to escape the feeling Amashukeli lost control as an absorbing match hit its crescendo.
His decision to card Rees-Zammit for not releasing South African replacement Willie le Roux after he had tackled him seemed particularly harsh. Replays showed Rees-Zammit did release before jackaling. The penalty could, and perhaps should, have gone the other way.
South Africa were backed by a sold-out Loftus Versfeld, but in their first Test of the year they started in reverse gear as Wales moved out into a shock 18-3 lead at the break.
Pivac’s men had suffered a first home defeat by Italy in their last outing. Their display in the opening 40 was barely believable as Rees-Zammit struck for two opportunistic scores.
Biggar kicked the rest and his haul included a superb drop-goal, but he was also yellow carded for not releasing after a try-saving tackle on Faf de Klerk.
Wales were helped by a shocking first half from Springbok fly-half Elton Jantjies, who was hooked at the break.
On came Le Roux, with Willemse moving to No 10 and back came South Africa.
Bongi Mbonambi, Malcolm Marx and Cheslin Kolbe all scored as their ‘bomb squad’ of replacements got to work.
Wales still refused to go quietly. Their pack was outstanding.
Replacement prop Tomas Francis did suffer a sickening head injury and was taken off after a lengthy delay. It was a worrying incident given Francis suffered a similar knock in the Six Nations.
Biggar’s boot kept Wales in the contest, but when Jones saw yellow after Kolbe dived over in the corner, it set off a late salvo of events that had to be seen to be believed.
Jones did return to the field almost as soon as Carre departed, but Wales were two men light for the final 15 minutes and they could not hold out.
Lake gave them hope, but it was not to be.
‘We knew it was going to be tough,’ said a relieved South African captain Siya Kolisi.
‘There wasn’t any panic. At no point did we not think we weren’t going to come back into the game.’ Kolisi’s poker face must be good. This was a game Wales should have won.
Once again, heroic defeat it was.
SCORERS; South Africa — Tries: Mbonambi, Marx,
Kolbe, Penalty Try. Cons: Willemse 2. Pens: Jantjies,
Willemse. Wales — Tries: Rees-Zammit 2, Lake. Con:
Biggar. Pens: Biggar 3. Drop Goal: Biggar.